Defenders of Champion City

The year is 2070 AD. Since the early 2020s, the world has been changed by the appearance of individuals with abilities beyond those of normal humans. People with command over fire and ice, people with the power to read and control minds, people who flew through the air and shrugged off gunfire. Individuals with a seemingly endless variety of powers appeared in greater and greater numbers all across the world.

Some of these people were the products of science, either granted powers by accident or through intentional human experimentation. Others were simply born with their abilities with no obvious explanation. Scientists continue to debate the source of these abilities, with no clear consensus having yet been reached.

Whatever the source of these superpowered individuals, it was only a tragically short amount of time before many of them turned to crime. So-called ‘supervillainy’ became a worldwide epidemic as non-powered law enforcement proved helpless to stop this new breed of criminal.

Fortunately, just as many powered individuals proved willing to step up and defend their communities against this menace. Vigilantes took to the streets in costumes and masks, fighting against criminals that law enforcement was unable to stop. While these individuals were highly controversial at first, governments worldwide began to realize that powered crime fighters were the only ones capable of protecting the public in this new age.

Thus began the careers of the first superheroes. Government agencies began to offer official sponsorship to certain heroes who had proven themselves as defenders of their communities. Teams of powered individuals increasingly replaced mundane law enforcement in cities across the globe. Most major urban centers now have at least one officially recognized team of heroes tasked with defending the people against all manner of villainy. Many of them still wear costumes like the vigilantes of old out of respect for tradition.

Of course, not all ‘heroes’ have taken on the role of a crime fighter out of a selfless desire to do good. Powered individuals are still in short supply, and government agencies will pay handsomely to get the best of the best on their side. Corporations increasingly offer sponsorship to superhero teams, placing their logos on their costumes and equipment in exchange for large cash contributions. Superheroes feature prominently in many major national advertising campaigns. Some of the most prominent heroes are among the most wealthy and famous people alive today. This includes the Justice Squad, the famed protectors of Champion City, a metropolis on the east coast of the United States

You aren’t one of those heroes. You have no corporate sponsors. You have no government contract. You are what many might call a ‘C-list hero’. You probably have a day job of some sort, and might just be scraping by to make ends meet. Still, the Justice Squad can’t be everywhere in Champion City. You might just be doing what you can to stop petty street crime for now, but who knows? The opportunity to make it into the big leagues might be right around the corner.

OOC INFORMATION:

I’m aiming to tell a sort of ‘classic’ superhero story here. It won’t be a hundred percent dark and gritty, but it won’t be entirely comedic or silly either. Think Batman: The Animated Series as an example of the sort of tone here. There will be plenty of action scenes battling supervillains and other criminals, but there will also be non-action based scenes dealing with the other difficulties of life as a superhero.

Feel free to draw from classic superhero tropes. Capes, masks, and silly costumes are fine. Backstories can range from tragic to mildly ridiculous. Secret identities are common in the setting, and you can feel free to have both a ‘hero name’ and a regular name.

You are welcome to use either the provided cards for natures, strengths, weaknesses, and subplots, or to create your own custom cards. Feel free to add art.

All characters will start as unaffiliated ‘C-list’ heroes who are unconnected with an established team or organization. They will be given a reason to start working together fairly quickly in the first scene.

Please include some description of your character’s powers and abilities in your application, along with a brief origin story to explain how they got them.

I will be looking for a group of 3-6 players. This is a reboot of a story which ran last year. Feel free to look it up if you’d like, but it may spoil plot points from some early scenes.